A year after his Strade Bianche challenge was ruined by a dramatic crash, Julian Alaphilippe returns to Tuscany with considerable ambition, buoyed by his victory at the Faun-Ardèche Classic last weekend.
Alaphilippe was the subject of some pointed criticism from Soudal-QuickStep manager Patrick Lefevere in the wake of his ill-starred 2022 season, but the two-time world champion has begun the new campaign on a positive note.
Last Saturday, Alaphilippe ran through his usually aggressive repertoire at the hilly Faun-Ardèche Classic, attacking on the climb of Saint-Romain-de-Lerps with 30km to go before beating David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) in the two-up sprint at the finish in Guilherand-Granges.
“It’s reassuring, it confirms the work I’ve done in recent weeks,” Alaphilippe said afterwards.
“It’s only the start of the season and there’s a lot to do, but it’s a bit of a relief all the same.”
Alaphilippe’s 2022 season was blighted by injury and illness. He sustained two broken ribs, a broken scapula, and a punctured lung in a mass crash at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, injuries that forced him to miss the Tour de France.
After returning to action with a win atop Mur de Huy at the Tour de Wallonie, Alaphilippe immediately contracted COVID-19, and he later dislocated his shoulder when he crashed out of the Vuelta a España.
Those travails had already been prefigured by his fall at Strade Bianche, where Alaphilippe was thrown over the handlebars after gusting wind had contributed to a mass crash on the gravel with 100km remaining.
Although Alaphilippe was able to remount and continue, the incident effectively ended his challenge and he was a spectator when Tadej Pogačar launched his race-winning move with 50km to go.
On Saturday, Alaphilippe returns to Strade Bianche at the head of a Soudal-QuickStep that includes Mauri Vansevenant, who so impressed at the Tour of Oman, as well as Davide Ballerini, Dries Devenyns, Casper Pedersen and Pieter Serry.
Alaphilippe won Strade Bianche in 2019 and he placed second behind a rampant Mathieu van der Poel two years later.
In the absence of Pogačar and Wout van Aert on Saturday, Alaphilippe and Van der Poel are the two outstanding favourites for victory in Siena.
“We love Strade Bianche, we know how hard and beautiful this race is, and we have a lot of motivation for Saturday,” sports director Davide Bramati said in a statement released by Soudal-QuickStep.
“Having several riders who can do something on this course means that we can try different things, so we go into the race with the confidence that a good result is possible.”
Alaphilippe’s Ardèche victory provided some solace for Soudal-QuickStep after the rest of the team’s cobbled Classics unit fell short of the mark at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne.
After skipping the cobbles altogether last Spring, Alaphilippe is set to ride a very full Classics programme this year, with Milan-San Remo, E3 Harelbeke, Gent-Wevelgem and the Tour of Flanders all on his schedule, as well as the Ardennes Classics.
The team may be increasingly oriented around Remco Evenepoel's Grand Tour ambitions, but Alaphilippe appears to be more pivotal than ever to their plans in one-day races.
